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All of us were like sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, but the LORD gave him the punishment we deserved. Isaiah 53:6 (CEV)
Jesus wants each of us to know two things, we are all sheep and we’ve all wandered. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO of a major company or a Single parent living in low-income housing. You are a sheep. It doesn’t matter if you are a teen struggling to get through school or a leading professor in a major university, you are a sheep. It doesn’t matter if you have a bank-roll the size of Rhode Islandor are unemployed and living on welfare and food stamps, you are a sheep. It doesn’t matter if you are on your sixth marriage (and it’s in trouble) or are celebrating your 75th wedding anniversary with your high school sweetheart, you are a sheep.
Before you conjure up in your minds the picture of a cute little lamb drinking from a bottle and looking all cute and cuddly, take a look at some sheep facts.
- Sheep have to have a leader to follow. Experiments with sheep have shown that usually one sheep is the dominant one. If that sheep is taken from the flock and the sheep are sent out to the same pasture they’ve gone to a thousand times, they will become confused. Some will lie down. Others will wander aimlessly or simply stand in one place and not know what to do.
- Sheep are crowd followers. They rarely think for themselves. They’d just as soon have someone else do that for them. As long as they are fed and comfortable they are happy.
- Sheep become very stressed with change and when separated from their friends. When danger comes they tend to panic and flee in different directions without thought of the consequences.
- Sheep tend to be closest to those who are ‘related’ to them and don’t interact well with sheep ‘of another color’ so to speak.
- Although not considered intelligent at all, sheep do tend to remember faces and voices very well and can differentiate between a familiar voice and an unfamiliar voice.
Consider, for a moment how many times we react like sheep in our daily lives, in our relationships with others and with God and during times of stress. Remember…we are ALL sheep.
Secondly, we have all wandered away. When I was young I remember hearing testimonies of men and women who had been delivered from the most horrendous lifestyle imaginable. I often wished that I could have a great testimony like that. One that speaks of God’s deliverance from terrible things. Of course, since then I’ve learned two things. One is that I’ve made enough blunders of my own to qualify. Secondly, in God’s eyes we are all sheep (have I mentioned that?) and we have all wandered. It doesn’t matter where we’ve wandered or how far or why. We have all wandered away from God. We all have stories of his deliverance.
It’s no wonder then that Jesus refers to himself as the good shepherd. The good shepherd knows the struggles sheep have. He knows they depend on him for protection, guidance and companionship. He knows their ways and they know his voice. Even though we, as sheep, wander we have a good shepherd who constantly looks after us to guide comfort and forgive.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. Thank you for being the good shepherd. Thank you for forgiving me, being patient when I wander and seeking me out when I stray. Help me to follow your voice and not the other voices. In your name, Amen.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
When I was in Bible College, the building we married students lived in was literally one of the oldest buildings in the metropolitan city the College was located in. The building was rich in history but definitely was showing its age. The windows seemed to do little to stop the cold northerly winds. The heating and electrical system was inefficient and, at times, non-operational. The college did everything they could to keep the building updated and safe while we were there.
A few years ago I read that they had torn down the old building and erected a new one in its place. All the years of patching and repairing and fixing and re-fixing had finally come to an end. It was just no use trying to keep the old building in use.
Now, I’m a huge fan of trying to repair and restore old building rather than putting up new ones. However, reality is, sometimes the old just gets to a point where it won’t work anymore. It’s true in buildings. It’s true in cars and it’s true in the spiritual life as well.
In our original form, in the Garden of Eden, we were perfect. That perfection went far beyond our physical appearance. It included our emotional stability, or intellect and most importantly our ability to interact spiritually with the Creator-God of the Universe.
Then sin came into the picture and everything changed. Our physical bodies learned about illness and aging and eventually death. Our emotional well-being was challenged by our view of ourselves in comparison with others and we were hurt by the offenses of others. We began to deteriorate the moment we were born!
Our Heavenly Father looked down on us and realized that just fixing us would never be enough. The damage was too great. His desire for you was so deep that he decided the only way he could restore the relationship he longed to have with you was to start over with a brand new person, inside and out.
The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus came into the world to remodel you or recondition you. He didn’t come to repair what was broken. He came to make a brand new you. The old self is gone the minute you ask Christ to forgive you of your sin.
The enemy wants to remind you constantly that you haven’t changed. He’ll bring up all the things you still struggle with. He’ll point out your flaws. His words are nothing but lies. In Christ you are a brand new Creation!
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. As I stand here admiring your creation through the beauty of nature help me to remember that I am completely forgiven because of you. I’m not reconditioned. I’m not repaired or remodeled. In you I am a brand new creation. Thank you for your love. Amen.
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4
Have you ever thought of the passion behind the words of John 15:4? Jesus Christ, Messiah, the son of the living God is asking to remain in you. Some translations say ‘abide in you’. Either way, He isn’t asking to be WITH me. He wants to be in me and wants me to be ‘in Him’.
He isn’t telling me to clean up my act and join him when I’m done, like being part of the vine is dependent on performance or is the result of some supernatural occurrence. Branches aren’t add-ons or the result of some afterthought.
Branches, of course can’t survive without the vine, but a vine without branches? Not very practical. So the two of them, branches and vines, are interdependent. Imagine that. Jesus thinks enough of me that he says we are dependent on one another.
Now, me being dependent on Jesus? No question about that. But the thought of him being dependent on me adds a whole new perspective to the story. I’m not something he’s about to set on a shelf somewhere until further notice.
We are together. He isn’t asking me to join him one day a week. This is the real thing. This abiding envelopes my emotional, intellectual, spiritual and being. We are intertwined, interdependent, in constant interaction; constantly touching one another’s heart.
I’ve heard sermon after sermon on this passage. Each one seemed to carry with it a sense of huge responsibility to perform, to live worthy of the calling. Branches don’t have the option of living worthy of the vine. They just are. For a branch to pull-away from the vine is dangerous for the vine and can cause nearly fatal consequences because it damages the vine. Were a branch able to pull itself away from the vine, it is always fatal.
What amazing love he has for me that he would consider me to be so much a part of him. What an awesome position I have in him that I would be so close to his heart! As the vine, he is passionate about giving me everything I need to not only survive, but flourish. As a branch my goal in life is to produce beautiful fruit for his glory.
PRAYER: Jesus I’ve never thought of the passion behind abiding or being ‘in you’. What amazing love you have for me. Yet on a daily basis I seem to try to live apart from the one source of power and love that will help me cope with the struggles of this journey called life. Thank you for loving me so much. Empower me with your Spirit to bask in the glory of being a part of you. In your name, Amen.
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us Romans 8:31
There are times in life when we feel the whole world is against us. The alarm doesn’t go off and we’re late for an important meeting; the kids miss the school bus and sets our entire schedule for the day off by one hour; the doctor brings us a report that drives us to our knees; the phone call in the middle of the night and the following trip to the morgue. Life can be more than we can handle.
Even as an adult there are times when I long for the ability to just ‘let mom and dad take care of it’!
Sometimes people let us down and the relationship we thought would stay passionate forever turns cold and full of hate. We hurt someone deeply (and unintentionally) and not only do they refuse to forgive us, they spread the word to others of our thoughtless deed.
Where do you turn in times like that? Some turn to external comfort like drugs or alcohol. That usually leads to more problems. Others change relationships or jobs hoping that this time the disappointment and loneliness won’t come, or if it does, it won’t hurt so badly. We can spend our lives blaming others and building walls of anger and bitterness. We turn inside ourselves and become silent time bombs ready to explode at the next infraction in our lives.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you had one person to stand beside you? One person who could stand with you against all the odds and support you in the good and the bad? Someone who loved you and understood that you are doing the best you can. Someone who wouldn’t seek revenge for your faults?
Here’s the good news. You have someone like that. Think for a moment on the four little words in today’s verse ‘God is for us’. Personalize it now, change just one small word.
God is for ME. Let that thought melt the calluses of your heart. Allow it to soften the pain of rejection and frustration. Let it be as soothing oil on the open wounds of your soul.
GOD IS FOR YOU. Regardless of how you got to the place you are in life-God is for you. Regardless of the failures you’ve done-God is for you. No matter how many people are against you-God is for you. Regardless of how many changes are occurring in your life (for the good or the bad)-God is for you.
And, if the God of the universe is for you. If he is the one holding your hand and walking by your side. Who or what can possibly keep us from being all we were meant to be.
PRAYER: Father God. There are days when life seems stacked against me. There are bills to pay, fires to fight and trials to endure. There are times when I am so happy with my accomplishments and no one takes the time to notice. Thank you that you are here with me. Thank you for being for me today as I go through all life has for me. In Jesus name, Amen.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
Sometimes I think we as Christ-followers have a warped view of our Bible heroes. Take the Apostle Paul for example. We lift him up as a man we all want to emulate. After all, he wrote most of the New Testament, was responsible for starting many, many churches and, among other things had the wisdom and chutzpa to stand up to Peter and get into his face on a couple of occasions. What a guy!
But I appreciate Paul for more than his godly wisdom and spiritual insight. I admire more the many times in Scripture when he speaks candidly about his own failures. I think Paul would scream in horror if he heard and saw how we elevate him sometimes.
Take for example his letter to the Philippians. Three times in the first few verses of chapter three it’s as if Paul is saying, “I haven’t reached perfection yet. I still fail. I struggle with the same old sins. I battle temptation constantly. Sometimes I win. Sometimes I lose. But, I press on to the higher standard God has called me to in Christ Jesus.”
Isn’t that the way each of us feel when we are honest with ourselves? We aren’t called to perfection. We’re called to battle. We aren’t expected to win every battle with temptation, but we are encouraged to fight each battle with determination and will.
Sometimes that means giving up our ‘rights’. Sometimes we’ll be misunderstood or wrongfully accused. Sometimes we’ll just plain fail. Jesus is more interested in the direction you are heading than how many battles you win. He’s more excited about how hard you fight than your win-loss record. He knows you’ll lose some battles. He knows he’s already won the war.
Don’t get discouraged when it seems the old life has too much power over you. You have been called to battle with Jesus at your side. Don’t give up on yourself. Sometimes you’ll win the big battles; sometimes you’ll lose the small ones. Either way, pick yourself up, brush the dirt from your clothes and press on knowing the Jesus is running alongside cheering you on to victory and comforting you in defeat.
PRAYER: Jesus, there are so many times I’ve failed you. I get up in the morning determined to win and climb back in bed hours later battered, bruised and embarrassed by my weakness. Forgive me for my failure. Empower me to press on. In your name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 